Questioning Human Agency: Recalibrating David Malouf’s Remembering Babylon (1993) In The Light Of Postcolonial Ecocriticism

Abstract

Ecocritical post-colonial research is a nascent discipline within the realm of literary criticism. It integrates the examination of the post-colonial setting in literary works and uncovers a correlation between literature and the environment. Even before the term “ecocriticism” was coined in the realm of literature, writers have always focused on portraying nature as a source of inspiration and a valuable opportunity to develop their thoughts and express them in writing. The word ecocriticism was introduced into literary criticism by the Association of the Study of Literature and Environment (ASLE) in 1993. Since then, researchers have used this approach to analyse texts and emphasise environmental problems, as well as to examine the ways in which literature can raise awareness in society. Post-colonial ecocritical studies aim to address the intersection of post-colonialism and ecocriticism by examining the environment as a holistic entity encompassing humans, animals, and land. It focuses critical thinking on the connection between humans (both indigenous and foreign) and the land, as well as the link between humans and nonhumans. This paper examines the portrayal of nonhumans in David Malouf’s Remembering Babylon(1993) with a view to exploring ecological issues in our contemporary world. The paper also demonstrates how the use of a postcolonial ecocritical paradigm reveals that nonhuman nature, including the human “other” that is treated as an animal, is subjected to Western ideologies that perceive them as just resources or tools to be exploited. However, the article also demonstrates how the nonhuman “others” are challenging these perspectives by fighting Western practices that idealise rural life and by highlighting environmental dangers.